Tragic Tibbetts Case Goes Instantly Political

An illegal immigrant, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, has been charged with the murder of student Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa. (Screen capture, YouTube, CNN)

Tuesday’s tragic news that the search for missing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts has come to an end, with the recovery of her remains and the arrest of an illegal alien for murder immediately took on political overtones that could make this a game changer for the midterm elections.

Social media has erupted with memes ranging from the paired images of Tibbetts and the late Kate Steinle, who was fatally shot in San Francisco, reminding viewers that they had dreams, too, to a simple message about building “the wall, now.” Fox News took a look at that aspect of this big picture immigration issue.

One woman reacted to one Facebook thread with a swipe at liberal hypocrisy: “When a nutjob shoots up a school, the LEFT goes into apoplexy about guns and gun control. When an illegal immigrant commits a heinous act of murder (and possibly more), the LEFT says that the RIGHT should not make this a political issue, ‘How unsympathetic and inappropriate!’”

And then came Geraldo Rivera’s remark to Fox News’ Sean Hannity:

“What I fear is that this case will now become the rallying cry to deprive these dreamers of their protected status” – Geraldo Rivera

There is no small irony in the fact that the television veteran shares the same last name with the suspect, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, who has reportedly been in this country illegally for at least four years. He is being held on a first-degree murder charge.

Many conservatives are also miffed that major news organizations continue referring to the suspect as “an undocumented immigrant.” No, they argue, he is an illegal alien.

Like it or not, the murder of Mollie Tibbetts allegedly by a man in this country illegally, when liberals are demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be shut down, is a ready-made political heat-seeking missile. The left, which desperately wants Democrats to take back control on Capitol Hill and thus derail the Trump agenda, will almost certainly focus on Tuesday’s conviction of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and the plea deal reached by Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen.

But conservatives have the Tibbetts murder case.

Political football season just opened.

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About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is an award-winning career journalist with an expertise in firearms and the outdoors. He is the author of several books dealing with firearms politics. He has a degree in editorial journalism from the University of Washington and is a lifelong Washington resident.